Satellite and airborne radar and laser altimetry have transformed our capacity to study the cryosphere. Continuous altimetry measurements since 1992 have painted a unique picture of how Earth’s glaciers, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, and polar oceans evolve. As global temperatures have risen, so too have rates of snowfall, ice melting, decline of sea ice cover (decreases albedo) and mass loss from ice sheets (increases sea level). NASA-IceBridge completed its decade-long mission in 2019, bridging the gap between ICESat and ICESat-2 with ice thickness data and altimetry. The two current polar satellite altimeters (ESA CryoSat-2 since 2010; NASA ICESat-2 since 2018) are continuing the altimetry record, and also delivering data at high spatial resolution, allowing studies of small-scale features, e.g. rifts and melt ponds. This session will demonstrate the vital role of both continuous and high-resolution altimetry in advancing our understanding of the processes involved in a changing cryosphere.